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Shalah Al-Beuff
Shalah Al-Beuff (710KF - 769KF) was an Anjuin noble and military commander who fought in the Wars of the Isles and the Anjuin Crusade Wars. He is known for his negligence and arrogance in command and especially for his failure to prevent Cyroth An-Bagranthar and his 30,000 troops from landing during the Battle of Sebeul Bay. He continued to serve as the commander of the Army of the Shajj, however and despite winning a minor victory at the Battle of Al-Menshik, lost his army in a poorly executed retreat and fled to Kliwan Island, where he died either due to wounds sustained at Menshik or from overeating. Based on examination of the corpse, the latter is a more popular theory. Early Life Al-Beuff was born into the prestigious Al-Beuff family, a group of nobles who served the Anjuin Sultanate. His father, Adissi Al-Beuff, was a popular general and statesman who was a close friend of the Sultan, Bicsoc Al-Danbarr. Al-Beuff never truly lived up to his fathers legacy or expectations. He was more interested in reading and academia than training for the army and was known for being fat, lazy and arrogant. As a high noble, he was known to abuse his servants and became accustomed to being carried around in a Box-Carriage. As a young man, he became much less arrogant and charming while in court, soon earning the favour of the Sultan, to the dismay of many. When his father died in 731KF he assumed the position of Vizier of the Army of the Shajj, the second largest Anjuin force at the time. He moved with the army to its position at Sebeul Bay, where he spent the next few years reading and relaxing, only occasionally taking to military matters. The army remained a good standard, however, mainly due to the efforts of his subordinates. Grand Vizier Olvic Shah said of him, "There is not a more tiresome, or less fit to command man in the kingdom." Great Eastern War Al-Beuff was a known supporter of the war against the Kymurian Empire and enthusiastically readied his troops. Along with others, he soon became bored again when it looked as if the Southern Kymurian Lands were about to collapse, and the war would end. Rumors soon set in that Cyroth An-Bagranthar was readying a fleet to cross the Anjuin Causeway Sea, however, yet Al-Beuff seemingly did not respond or make preparations. When Al-Beuff received reports of a large fleet of ships sailing for the bay with no recognizable emblem, he thought nothing of it and returned to his banquet table. He then was informed of the few hundred Kymurian troops that had landed, while his army sat idle in the Sebeul fortress. He soon roared into action, but by then it was too late. Cyroth had landed 30,000 men and forced the Anjuin army to surrender. A further 50,000 men were now on the way. To make matters worse, the Kymurians had blockaded the harbor, and the bulk of the fleet there had never been given the order to advance. That evening, he left the city in his carriage, along with several concubines and some 17,000 men who had revoked the surrender and slipped away. For the rest of the war, Al-Beuff remained largely obscure, having earned considerable ire from the Sultan for his actions at Sebeul Bay. The exception, however, was the Battle of Al-Menshik. The Battle of Al-Menshik was part of the Azov Offensive, a large Anjuin campaign aiming at driving back the Kymurians from their recent gains. Al-Beuff led his 17,000 men into a flank attack onto the Kymurian line around the Menshik farmlands. They broke through and did briefly cause a Kymurian withdrawal, however they soon returned and destroyed the army, injuring Al-Beuff with an arrow to the left side of his pelvis. A surgeon was able to remove it, but he could not walk easily from then on, relying on his Box-Carriage. This did not change his life significantly. Campaign of the Valleys and death Initially, Al-Beuff marched with his remaining 80 men and servants to the Patwah Valleys, where the Sultan was arranging a campaign of Guerilla resistance against the Kymurians, however, he stopped and instead headed for one of his family estates on Kliwan Island. He was a wanted man by the Kymurians after the war, but they never found him. Al-Beuff died in 769KF due to either overeating or his wound. Evidence suggests the former. Category:Rulers